Automated voice messaging systems are known in the art and used extensively for rapid and convenient communication. The recording of telephone voice messages is a convenience to both the calling and called parties. The caller may leave a message for the called party during off-hours, or when the called party is unable to answer the call. The called party may be a person or may be a machine or system such as an automatic voice recognition system or a voice message system. The call may occur over traditional telephone exchange lines, a switched network, a mobile-based network, the Internet, and the like. The called party may retrieve the stored message when desired. The caller's message is delivered to the called party and the information within the message is not lost. One problem with this process is, however, inaudible or unintelligible voice messages.
Callers attempt to speak clearly and audibly, but voice messages may include voice content that is difficult to understand or is subjected to noise levels that make comprehension difficult. The called party may directly listen to the message or the message may be processed through, for example, a voice recognition system. Further, messages may be converted to text or stored for archival purposes. All of these actions require that the person or system receiving the message understand the information within the message.
Partially unintelligible messages can be inconvenient to the called party, especially if names or numbers are inaudible. The called party may lose the information within the message and the caller is typically unaware that the message was not understood or processed. If the identity of the caller is unknown or unintelligible, the called party may not have any recourse in resolving the information or content of the message. In other words, neither the caller nor the called party may take any action that is efficient or on a real time basis when an incomprehensible message is left.